Technical Thesaurus oil & gas
Letter
Packed columns
A distillation or
absorption tower which is filled with small objects, called packing, to effect
an intimate contact between rising vapours.
Packer
A mechanical device containing
a rubber packing element which can be expanded against the well bore or casing
to isolate the annular sections above and below the element.
Packer fluid
Any tough, pliable
material -rubber or fibre -used to fill a chamber or "gland" around a
moving rod or valve stem to prevent the escape of gas or liquid; any yielding
material used to effect a pressure-tight joint. Packing is held in place and
compressed against a moving part by a "follower", an adjustable
element of the packing gland.
Palaeozoic era
The era of
geological time (comprising the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian,
Carboniferous and Permian Periods) which began roughly 600 million years ago
and ended roughly 230 million years ago.
Paper barrels
Crude oil or
products traded on the forward or similar markets which are closed out by
subsequent sale or settlement without physical or 'wet' delivery.
Paraffin
A name given in the
Paraffins
The simplest
homologous series of hydrocarbons containing no unsaturated carbon-to-carbon
bonds; also known as the alkanes.
Paraxylene
An aromatic compound
used in the manufacture of polyester fibres.
Party chief
The industry
expression for the manager of a survey team.
Pay sand
The producing
formation, often one that is not even sandstone. It is also called pay zone,
and production zone.
Pay zone
The stratum of rock
in which oil and/or gas is found.
PDVSA
Petroleos de Venezuela
S.A.
PEMEX
Petroleos Mexicana
Pentane
The saturated
hydrocarbon (alkane) with five carbon atoms in its molecule (CSH 12); the fifth
member of the paraffin series -a liquid under normal conditions.
Perforate
To pierce the casing
wall and cement to provide holes through which formation fluids may enter, or
to provide holes in the casing so that materials may be introduced into the
annulus between the casing and the wall of the borehole. Perforating is
accomplished by lowering into the well a perforating gun, or perforator, that
fires electrically detonated bullets or shaped charges from the surface. See
gun perforator.
Perforating gun
See gun perforator.
Permeability
A measure of the
capacity of a rock or stratum to allow water or other fluids such as oil to
pass through it.
Permian period
The period of
geological time which began roughly 280 million years ago and ended roughly 230
million years ago.
Persuader
An oversize tool for
a small job; an extension added to the handle of a wrench to increase the
leverage.
Petrochemical
An intermediate
chemical derived from petroleum, hydrocarbon liquids or natural gas, e.g.
ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene and xylene.
Petrol
See motor spirit.
Petroleum
A generic name for
hydrocarbons including crude oil, natural gas liquids, natural gas and their
products.
Petroleum engineer
The engineer who is
responsible for the overall strategy of oil and gas drilling and production
operations for a particular field.
Petrosulphur compounds
Hydrocarbon
chemicals which include sulphur in their molecules, e.g. mercaptans.
pH
A measure of the
acidity or alkalinity of a solution which is a function of the
hydrogen-ion-concentration. The pH scale is a logarithmic scale and ranges from
0, which represents a strong acid, to 14, which represents a strong alkali. A
neutral solution, which is neither acidic nor alkali, and pure water, has a pH
value of 7.
Photovoltaic (Electricity from sun)
Photovoltaic
technology allows for the direct tranformation of solar energy into electric
energy. Photovoltaic systems have been installed all over the world giving more
than 500 MWp power in order to provide locally generated energy to isolated
users and communities and to produce power for the distribution grids. Interest
in photovoltaics lies in the following characteristics: widespread availability
of the solar source, total modularity (from a few watts up to megawatts), high
level of reliability, low maintenance requirements. Solar energy can be
converted into electricity not only by means of photovoltaic systems, but also
using thermodynamic technology. By concentrating radiation with mirrors, high
temperatures can be reached and steam can be generated to produce energy with
traditional turbo-generators. All over the world there are a dozen plants
giving a total installed power of 360 MW.
Photovoltaic peak power stations
Photovoltaic power
stations are electric power stations which are highly modular (100-300 kWp
modular units) and easy to integrate in Medium Voltage distribution networks.
Entirely automated and remote controlled, they have very low maintenance costs
and make it also possible to reinforce the weak points of the grid, improving
reliability and quality of service during peak hours.
Photovoltaic rooftops
Photovoltaic systems
integrated into residential and industrial constructions (photovoltaic
rooftops) can range in size from a few kilowatts to hundreds of kilowatts, and
are connected to the distribution electricity grid. They produce energy to
satisfy local electricity power requirements and use the network as backing, by
absorbing energy when it is lacking or supplying it in case of surplus. This
application is characterised by the following features: production of energy
close to the load, use of marginal surface areas, possibility of replacing
conventional building elements with photovoltaic modules.
Pig
A piece of equipment
that is inserted into a pipeline and is carried along by the flow of oil or
gas; used to clean or monitor the internal condition of the pipeline or to mark
an interface between two different products.
Piling
Steel piles driven
into the sea-bed to anchor fixed steel structures such as production and
drilling platforms.
Pilot
A small flame in the
flare section to control the burning of gas. There are three pilots in each
flare system, and they are alight continuously. The pilots will ignite gas that
is sent through to be flared.
Pin
The male section of
the tool joint. See tool joint.
Pin end
Externally threaded
pipe end which screws into a box or female end.
Pinch-out trap
A trap where a bed
or reservoir rock gets progressively thinner as it nears an impervious area and
eventually disappears.
An acoustic pulse
signal projected by an underwater transducer.
Pinger
A device which
produces a short pulse of relatively low energy sound for acoustic work.
Pipe hook
A steel hook used in
handling drill pipes.
Pipe laying barge
See lay barge.
Pipe rack
A structure on which
sections of piping or casing may be stored.
Pipe ram
A sealing component
for a blowout preventer that closes the annular space between the pipe and the
blowout preventer or wellhead. See annular space and blowout preventer.
Pipe tongs
See tongs.
Pipeline
A pipe through which
oil, its products, or gas is pumped between two points, either offshore or
onshore.
Pit
An unroofed sump or
tank for holding liquids such as drilling mud.
PIW
Petroleum
Intelligence Weekly
Plant unit
A major piece of
equipment within a plant section or possibly a plant train, e.g. sulfinol unit.
Plastic
A generic term for a
range of high-molecular-weight polymers that can be used to produce artefacts.
Plastic resins
See engineering
plastic resins.
Plastic viscosity
The plastic
viscosity is a measure of the internal resistance to fluid flow attributable to
the amount, type and size of solids present in a given fluid.
Plastomer
A molecule or
combination of molecules that can form the basis of a polymer or plastic.
Plate column
A distillation
column consisting of a number of equally spaced, perforated, horizontal plates
which may be used in place of a packed column.
Plateau level
The level of peak
production reached by an oil or gas field; it is always followed by declining
levels of production.
Platform
An offshore
structure from which development wells are drilled. See drilling platform,
production platform.
Platform equipment
The equipment
installed on a production or drilling platform (drilling equipment, processing
equipment, power plant, accommodation modules, etc.).
Platform sample
A sample of
hydrocarbon, water, corrosion, etc., collected on the production platform.
Plugging a well
When a well is
abandoned for any reason, either temporarily or permanently, it must be sealed
off to ensure that no escape of any kind can occur. This sealing off is
generally accomplished by insertion of a plug of cement. Also called plugging.
Pneumatic control
The control and
monitoring of automated or remote processing plant by means of compressed air.
Polished rod
A smooth brass or
steel rod that works through the stuffing box or packing gland of a pumping
well; it is the uppermost section of the string of sucker rods, attached to the
walking beam of the pumping jack.
Polyacrylamides
A class of resins
which swell when water is added to them.
Polyethylene
(polythene)
A polymer formed by
joining ethylene molecules together; one of the most important plastics.
Polymer
A complex compound
formed by the polymerisation of one or more monomers.
Polymerisation
The process whereby
simple units containing one or more molecules are joined together to form
complex molecules.
Polyphenylene sulphide
An engineering
plastic with excellent resistance to most chemicals.
Polypropylene
A polymer formed by
joining propylene molecules together; an important plastic.
Pontoon
A hollow buoyancy
tank used to support a semi-submersible rig, barge or other structure.
Porcupine
A cylindrical steel
drum with steel bristles protruding from its surface; pipe-cleaning pig for
swabbing a sediment laden pipeline.
Pore
An opening or space
within a rock or mass of rocks, usually small and often filled with some fluid
(as water, oil, gas, or all three). Compare vug.
Pore pressure
The natural internal
pressure in a formation.
Porosity
A measure of the
amount of free space or voids in a rock; generally expressed as a percentage of
the total volume.
Positioning
Practise used to
compute coordinate locations; a static process (i.e. instantaneous position
fixing even in a moving craft). Methods include radio positioning (surface),
acoustic positioning (underwater). There is unavoidable overlap between
navigation and positioning, both of which use similar systems offshore
(navigation uses radio positioning while positioning sensors uses ship's gyro).
Positive choke
A choke in which the
orifice size must be changed to change the rate of flow through the choke. See
choke and orifice.
Positive displacement pump
A pump that
displaces or moves a measured volume of liquid on each stroke or revolution; a
pump with no significant slippage; a piston, plunger or rotary pump.
Possible reserves
Undeveloped oil
and/or gas reserves which best judgement indicates might eventually be
recoverable from undrilled or untested structures.
Post completion
After setting the
tubing string for the purpose of continuous production from a well.
Potable water
Water that is fit
for human consumption (e.g. drinking).
Potential
The production
possibility of a well.
Potential (optimum)
The rate at which
the well can produce with the optimum completion equipment installed.
Potential (present)
The rate at which
the well can produce with the present completion equipment installed.
Power tong
An air or
hydraulically-powered mechanism for making up and breaking out joints of drill
pipe, casing or tubing.
Precipitate
An insoluble
substance formed in a solution by a chemical reaction; it sinks to the bottom
of a vessel as a sediment.
Precision emphemeris
The emphemeris which
describe the orbit of a navigational satellite precisely. They are of higher
precision than the broadcast emphemeris but not available in real time
Preheater
A type of heat
exchanger in which a cold liquid or gas being fed to a process is preheated
utilising one of the hot liquids or gases leaving the process, or by steam.
Prepayment
The repayment to the
bank of a specific amount of debt under a loan agreement before the scheduled
time.
Pressure
The force of one
body acting on another by weight or the application of power. Measured as force
per unit area, e.g. pounds per square inch (psi).
Pressure drop
The decrease in
pressure due to friction which occurs when a liquid or gas passes through a
pipe, vessel or other piece of equipment.
Pressure equipment
Vessels, piping and
other equipment specially designed to operate under pressure. Excessive
pressure relief is provided by safety relief valves, or bursting discs.
Pressure gauges
Devices for the
measurement of pressure.
Pressure gradient
A scale of pressure
differences in which there is a uniform variation of pressure from point to
point. For example, the pressure gradient of a column of water is about 0.433
psi/ft of vertical elevation (9.794 kPa/m). The normal pressure gradient in a
well is equivalent to the pressure exerted at any given depth by a column of 10
per cent salt water extending from that depth to the surface (i.e., 0.465
psi/ft or 10.518 kPa/m).
Pressure relief valve
A valve that opens
at a preset pressure to relieve excessive pressures within a vessel or line;
also called a relief valve, safety valve, or pop valve.
Pressure surge
A sudden, usually
short-duration increase in pressure. When pipe or casing is run into a hole too
rapidly, and increase in the hydrostatic pressure results, which may be great
enough to create lost circulation. Pressure surges can also occur when starting
up pumps or compressors or when opening or closing valves.
Preventer
Shortened form of
blowout preventer. See blowout preventer.
Primary cementing
The cementing
operation that takes place immediately after the casing has been run into the
hole; used to provide a protective sheath around the casing, to segregate the
producing formation, and to prevent the migration of undesirable fluids. See
secondary cementing and squeeze cementing.
Primary migration
Nearly all
sedimentary rocks contain a small percentage of organic materials from which
petroleum could be formed. As pressure from overlying layers compacts these
'source' rocks, the oil or gas droplets are squeezed out and joined together to
form globules large enough to flow under pressure.
Primary recovery
Recovery of oil or
gas from a reservoir purely by using the natural pressure in the reservoir to
force the oil or gas out.
Prime mover
An
internal-combustion engine that is the source of power for a drilling rig in
oilwell drilling.
Priming
Reference a boiler,
a violent, spasmodic action resulting in the throwing of slugs of water over
with the steam; reference a pump, preliminary filling of the pump with liquid
vapours, hence eliminating the tendency to become vapour locked.
Principal
The original sum
borrowed on the basis of which interest is calculated. See loan capital,
interest.
Probable reserves
Undeveloped oil
and/or gas reserves considered to be recoverable from penetrated formations but
lacking information to be classified as proven reserves.
Process engineering
That branch of
engineering which deals with industrial processes, particularly the production
of petrochemicals and their products.
Processing
In the context of
survey, refers to navigation (producing charts), analogue work (conditioning
raw signal), or digital work (producing sections from raw data, onboard or
ashore).
Processing plant
Special plant
installed on a production platform or at a pipeline terminal to separate gas,
oil and water from a mixture containing some or all of these components. Also
called treatment or separation plant.
Producing horizon
Rock from which oil
or gas is produced.
Production
1. The phase of the
petroleum industry that deals with bringing the well fluids to the surface and
separating them and with storing, gauging, and otherwise preparing the product
for the pipeline. 2. The amount of oil or gas produced in a given period.
Production drilling
Drilling of wells in
order to bring a field into production.
Production licence
A licence to produce
oil or gas in a particular area issued to a company by the governing State.
Production phase
The phase in the
life of a field in which oil or gas is produced.
Production platform
A platform from
which development wells are drilled and which carries all the associated
processing plant and other equipment needed to maintain a field in production.
Production string
See production
tubing.
Production test
A test conducted in
a well to assess its production potential through measurements of pressures and
fluid volumes produced during various specified time intervals.
Production trains
Series of separating
and processing facilities on a platform and in a plant for a stream of
hydrocarbons.
Production tubing
The pipe in a
production well through which oil or gas flows from the reservoir to the
surface. Also known as the production string.
Production well
A well used to
remove oil or gas from a reservoir.
Profile
Analogue sub sea-bed
record (metres to tens of metres penetration).
Project life
The length of time a
project is estimated to last.
Projection (lambert conformal conic)
A conformal
projection of the conical type on which all geographic meridians are
represented by straight lines which meet in a common point outside the limits
of the map, and the geographic parallels are represented by a series of arcs or
circles having this common point for a centre. Meridians and parallels
intersect at right angles, and angles on the Earth are correctly represented on
the projection. This projection may have one or two standard parallels along
which the scale is held exact.
Projection (mercator)
A conformal projection
of the cylindrical type. The Equator is represented by a straight line true to
scale; the geographic meridians are represented by a straight line
perpendicular to the line representing the Equator; they are spaced according
to their distance apart at the Equator. The geographic parallels are
represented by a second system of straight lines perpendicular to the family of
lines representing the meridians, and therefore parallel with the Equator.
Conformality is achieved by mathematical analysis, the spacing of the parallels
being increased with the increasing distance from the Equator to conform with
the expanding scale along the parallels resulting from the meridians being
represented by parallel lines. Since rhumb lines appear as straight lines and
directions can be measured directly, this projection is widely used in
navigation.
Propagation:
Transmission of
signals from radio or sonic devices. Velocity of p -For radio waves, somewhere
near the velocity of sound in air. P Factor - Factor to use on signal values
due generally to minor variations in the transmission conditions at that time.
Propane
The saturated
hydrocarbon (alkane) with three carbon atoms in its molecule (C3H8); the third
member of the paraffin series -a gas under normal conditions.
Propene (propylene)
The member of the
alkene series containing three carbon atoms, two of which are connected by a
double (unsaturated) bond (C3H6); an important raw material in the chemical and
plastics industries.
Proppant
See propping agent.
Propping agent
A granular substance
(as sand grains, aluminium pellets, or other material) carried in suspension by
the fracturing fluid that serves to keep the cracks open when the fracturing
fluid is withdrawn after a fracture treatment.
Prospect
Geological structure
that can be hydrocarbon bearing; interpreted from a number of techniques, one
of the more important being mapping of seismic data.
Proven field
An oil and/or gas
field whose physical extent and estimated reserves have been determined.
Proven reserves
Those reserves
proved to a high degree of certainty by reason of actual depletion, successful
testing or, in certain cases, adequate core analyses or quantitative log
interpretation. They are defined really by reasonable geological interpretation
of structures and known continuity of oil or gas saturated reservoir rock. If
reliable correlations can be made between two wells then the intervening area
may also be regarded as proven.
PSI
Abbreviation for
pounds per square inch. See pressure.
Pull one green
To pull a drill bit
from the hole before it is worn out; to pull a bit before it is necessary.
Pulling tubing
The operation of
removing the tubing from a well.
Pump duplex
A double acting, two
cylinder, constant displacement, reciprocating piston or plunger pump.
Pump pressure
Fluid pressure
arising from the action of the pump.
Pump simplex
A one cylinder steam
pump used in refineries and processing plants. Simplex pumps are simple,
direct-acting pumps with the steam piston connected directly to the pump's
fluid plunger.
Pump triplex
A single acting,
three cylinder, constant displacement, reciprocating plunger pump.
Pumps
Mechanical devices
to transport liquids or gases from one vessel to another along pipelines. There
are a wide variety of pumps of three, general types: reciprocating, gear and
centrifugal. The choice depends on the height to which the liquid is to be
pumped (delivery head), quantity and nature of the liquid (viscosity, corrosive
nature, etc.) and availability of prime movers (electric motors, turbines,
etc.)
Purchases in place
Estimate of Security
Exchange Commission (USA) reserves purchased in the ground from another party.
Purging
Cleansing of
processing equipment, or pipelines. Vessels must be purged of noxious gases by
sweeping them with air before removing man ways or entering them for cleaning
or inspection. Pipelines must be purged of material, e.g. water, before they
are placed into service to carry crude oil or natural gas.
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